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Comment by tjwebbnorfolk

18 days ago

"The world" isn't responsible for anything. The world simply exists, and owes you nothing.

I think they meant “society.” Society does, in fact, owe the people something, especially if we, the people, are expected to live by the rules, social norms, and expectations imposed by society.

  • Yea, like anything, you get out what you put into it. I wouldn't describe that as society "owes" me something.

    • Parent was talking about children (npi) — they don’t get out of society what they put into it. Society owes them care for bringing them into it, and if society defaults on this debt then society ends.

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What your describing is a low trust society. If you disregard the social contract like that, then people wont owe the "the world" anythign either. Collaboration and civics goes out the window. If you want to look at what kind of a shithole that libertarian nonsense leads to, then try taking a stroll in SF at night

  • You get out of society what you put into it. If I want a seamless web of deserved trust, then of course I need to contribute to that.

    I don't consider that to be saying that society "owes" me something. I regard it mutually beneficial, not some kind of debt/debtor relationship.

    • This is an important framing - we talk so much of "rights" but if you have a right to something, that means someone or someones have a duty to provide it.

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    • > I don't consider that to be saying that society "owes" me something. I regard it mutually beneficial, not some kind of debt/debtor relationship.

      You know, in phrases like "you owe it to your spouse/sibling/friend/self to...", people aren't talking about formal debt. Please try to keep that kind of meaning in mind when people say that society owes its people.